Stairs are composed of stringers, stair treads and stair risers. The stringers are the slanted members on the sides of the stairs which sit on the floor and are tightly attached at the top of the staircase. In most stair construction, there are two stringers installed on each set of steps. The stair treads are the sections in which you step on to travel up and down the stairs. Stair treads are usually made of wood.
Proper stair design has a maximum rise of eight inches, a minimum run of nine inches and a minimum tread width of 9.25 inches. A safe and properly configured stairway should be at 34 inches wide. As a rule the wider steps are safer then narrow stairs. There needs to be adequate headroom above the set of stairs. The required headroom is at least 6 foot 6 inches.
When there is a door at the top of a set of steps, it should open away from the stairs for safety reasons. If a door opens toward the stairs a landing is needed so a person opening the door will not be able to push someone on the stairs.
Curved stairs are not as safe as a strait set of stairs. Curved stairs get very narrow on one side. A curved set of steps may be difficult to negotiate in an emergency or fire situation.
Handrails should be installed on at least one side of the stairs that has two or more risers. Properly configured stair handrails should 34 inches high and they should be designed to comfortably accommodate a person wrapping their hand around the rail.
Guardrails also should accompany a handrail system on a properly configured set of steps. The gaps should be only 4 inches wide so that the body of a child can not fit though the openings.
Stairs may be inadequately supported if the flooring is weak or if the stringers are improperly designed or are damaged. Where a side stringer is damaged the stair treads may loose their support and dislodge. Stairs can be loose, inadequately supported, and worn. All of these are considered safety issues that require correction in order to make the stairs safe.
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